What makes counting sheep so conducive to sleep? Why not hedgehogs or wombats? It’s in the droning, the counting, of course…unless you feel sorry for the soft, adorable, little balls of wool you have recruited to jump the fence, one by one; in which case, you’ll stay awake to make sure they don’t trip and fall.
As you work through The Oxygen Plan, remember that sleeping is a green activity; as O2 loaded as it can get, and is just as important as taking care of your physical and mental health, in your waking hours. However, if you do suffer from insomnia, your mind may be signaling the need for a better way (more Oxygen-infused experiences) to juggle the people, places and things in your life that all seem to come alive, with the stress they bring, when your head hits the pillow! Chasing the red, CO (carbon monoxide) monster every night is exhausting and is in sharp contrast to the kind of natural fatigue that precedes deep sleep.
Adversely, too much sleep can be as harmful as too little sleep. According to the Mayo Clinic, oversleeping on a regular basis can lead to depression, weight gain and a variety of other health problems. These results may be the yellow issues, representing harmful CO2 or carbon dioxide experiences, in a bad sleeper’s night. The right balance and subsequent actions can kick a yellow experience into a sublime green one, when you compare the effects of your daily physical and mental activities with the amount and kind of sleep you need. The quality, or kind of sleep you need, is just as important as how long you sleep. Sleep apnea, for example, causes people to wake up frequently, preventing deep and refreshing sleep. According to experts, if you cannot fall and stay asleep within 15 to 20 minutes after you lie down in bed, getting up and/or leaving the bedroom to do something else that relaxes you, is good advice. Sleep will come when we are tired enough.
Sleep is a peacefully private activity, restful and rejuvenating, and plays an important role in your mental and physical health, as it lets your body rest and your brain recharge after each day is over. It is nature’s way of putting the cares of the day aside as it prepares us to welcome the next day, alert and refreshed. The number of hours of sleep you need generally depends on your age and can vary from person to person. According to researchers at the Mayo Clinic, people who consistently get enough sleep have a stronger immune system and are less likely to get sick. When we sleep, our bodies produce proteins called cytokines. These proteins help fight infections; higher levels enable us to better fight off infection and illness. These proteins also enhance mental and physical energy and better memories.
As one works through The Oxygen Plan, it’s not uncommon to concentrate on the stressful people, places and things we encounter daily or frequently, when we are wide awake at work and/or play. It’s also not uncommon for personal stressors to suddenly seem to loom larger than ever when our brains are trying to put us to sleep! Diverting our thoughts or developing new ways of dealing with sleeplessness and its causes, can be aided by the steps of The Oxygen Plan. Examining something so easily taken for granted as the need to sleep, can be added to the mix of seeking those positive choices that enhance the best of who we are and the “greenest” we can be — asleep or awake.
A recent article appeared on MSN.com, originally posted on Caring.com about stress and your heart. The article is entitled: “Is Stress Sabotaging Your Heart?” It reviews two recent studies looking at work-stress and hours worked and heart health and the sort answer to the title/question is a resounding “YES.”
Take a look and see: Click Here
No surprise, as stress has been known to be an independent risk factor for heart disease for quite some time. Back in the late 1980’s and 1990’s, stress and heart disease were first linked using descriptions of the “Type A personality.” Individuals, it was thought, who were hard driving, competitive and goal oriented were found to have a higher risk and rate of heart disease. Later, researches found that one component of the Type A personality was largely responsible for the increased risk: hostility or unexpressed anger. Still later, a study I had the privilege of being involved in documented for the first time that stress was also an independent risk factor in heart disease. That study found that increased stress was not only associated with increase heart disease risk but with increased health care costs as well.
What these new reports tell us is that stress specific to work is yet another aspect of stress that we as individuals need to attend to. In the bigger picture, it is anther deadly reason for employers to attend to work-place stress. As productivity demands increase and as health care costs continue to soar, we can’t afford to ignore stress.
At The Oxygen Plan, we define "stress" as what we experience when the demands placed upon us exceed our ability to cope. We experience symptoms or even illness and disease when our ability to cope is taxed severely or steadily over time. Interestingly, the same holds true for organizations! No surprise really, when you consider that organizations are defined by its people. Also no wonder then that some corporations are starting to think about organizational performance in these terms — beyond looking strictly at productivity measures, edicts to do more with less and wellness initiatives.
Consider Sony Pictures Entertainment and how it gets more out of its people by demanding less ("The Productivity Paradox" by Tony Schwartz, Harvard Business Review, June 2010, pages 65-69). Sony Pictures understands that people don’t work like computers, operating continuously at high speeds. Rather, Sony Pictures understands that human beings perform best only at intervals between periods of rest, or at sub-peak performance more consistently over longer periods of time. The author correctly posits that "employees can increase effectiveness by practicing simple…methods that refuel their energy", such as taking a daily walk and turning off email at certain times to improve concentration. The author concludes that if companies "allow and encourage employees" to do this, "they will be rewarded with a more engaged, productive, and focused workforce (p. 67)."
At The Oxygen Plan, we couldn’t agree more! The HBR article derives its assumptions and conclusions directly from the human performance curve, a widely accepted and understood principle that states as performance demands and/or stress levels increase, human performance will inevitable suffer.
Understanding and appreciating this curve is the responsibility of any organization’s leadership if that organization is to thrive. At The Oxygen Plan, we’ve integrated behavioral science and business to develop tools that help individuals and organizations better manage stress toward improved performance, with employees becoming more engaged and focused. Or as we like to say, we help people and companies "live in the green." Sometimes, less IS more!
Mother Nature has a very determined way of taking us from season to season, often ignoring what the calendar says and the plans we’ve written on it. Even though it’s now early June, in many parts of the country temperatures are gently warming, skies are clearing, trees are blooming, breezes are milder. It just feels like summer is impatiently waiting to arrive
Of all the seasons, spring and especially summer, hold the promise of good times to come in the greater outdoors (or in a place with refreshing AC!). Depending on what and who your “oxygenators” are, the balmy days of summer invite us to do our green things in the green, literally.
The onset of summer also signals the longest school break in the year, for kids who are counting down their last official days in the classroom.
Yet, when the thrill of not having to go to school for roughly two months begins to wear off, parents will invariably hear the universal sound of boredom coming from the mouths of their little darlings: “THERE’S NOTHING TO DO!”
This is actually a cry for oxygen; for mobility, for diversion; for nurturing and fun experiences that differ from those found in school books or classrooms.
The first step for any parent who values their sanity is to sweetly reply, “Sure there is!” (Just make sure you have back-up plans in your bag of tricks.) If you’ve just begun The Oxygen Plan, this may be the perfect time to set or review your Life Rules!
Arranging play dates for your kids would seem to be one of the first, less stressful things you can do, rather than embarking on full-fledged, cross-country camping expeditions. You know what you — and your kids — can handle!
When kids play with their friends, they are participating in solid, green opportunities to imagine and pretend without having to hurry home and do homework. If you or a neighbor has a backyard pool, consider the fact that your kids are not just flopping around and splashing water on dry adults, but that they are also exercising muscles in a different way and absorbing the benefits of inhaling and exhaling oxygen in a natural way, in a natural setting.
Schedules — yours and theirs — necessarily change, and so do eating habits. Chances are you’ll be cooking on the grill more and relying on simple fare at meal time. Eating outside, or anywhere that is not the kitchen, is a fun change for kids. Make it fun for you and your grown-up friends, too! Indulge in some delicious cooling drinks or whip up a new mango salsa.
Think of days spent at the zoo or the local park as educational experiences. (Just don’t tell the kids that they might learn something if they go. That’s a sure-fire way to sabotage their enthusiasm.) If they do go to summer camp — and like the experience — they’ll be absorbing life lessons every day, anyway.
And if there are visits to friends and family on the horizon, remember that you love your kids, but cannot always obsess over what they will say, when they will say it and to whom! There’s no excuse for outright bad manners, but they are young and preciously unworldly!
Your own Oxygen Plan for the summer should, above all else, give you the green experiences which have nurtured you, all along. Summer break can be challenging for parents, but it doesn’t have to be a test of endurance; nor does it have to be action-packed each and every moment.
Remember your commitment to yourself; to live in the green and welcome refreshing experiences that enhance the best you! Whatever gets you there will keep you there this summer and all year round.
Workplace Suicides in the U.S. on the Rise
Posted on June 3rd, 2010 by Donald WilliamsImportantly, the article with the title above was posted on MSNBC.com yesterday. Sadly but equally importantly, the article puts real names and faces to the billions of dollars stress costs US employers. As noted in the article, the media continue to report that the economy is turning around yet there are stark human statistics telling us the any such turnaround hasn’t yet reached most American households.
At The Oxygen Plan, we note that Stress displays itself in a number of physical and emotional ways, including sharp changes in mood and demeanor; changes in appetite and bodily appearance; muscle tension and body aches; changes in sex drive; general fatigue, migraine headaches, upset stomachs and gastric illnesses.
We also note that stress is also linked to the six leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, cirrhosis of the liver, accidents, and sadly, suicide. We are also dedicated to helping individuals and companies reduce and better manage their stress, effectively reducing economic and human costs.
Thank you to MSNBC and author Eve Tahmincioglu for publishing the article. Take a look: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37402529/ns/business-careers/
National Stress Awareness Month
Posted on April 23rd, 2010 by Eric LucasIn support of National Stress Awareness Month, we developed this press release. Please feel free to share it with others.
Click Here to view the press release.
A Time to Reflect - What’s Your Stress Number?
Posted on January 5th, 2010 by Eric LucasThe Green Team at the Oxygen Plan hopes everyone enjoyed a warm Holiday Season and wishes you all the best in the New Year. The holidays and the arrival of a new year - ushering in a new decade - provide an opportunity to reflect not only on the past year but to think critically about our future. We can take a look at our accomplishments, our short-comings and our future challenges. We can consider the state of our health, our jobs, and our relationships. Often, we make New Year’s resolutions to start anew, to correct problems in our lives and improve ourselves in the New Year - all good!
Often, however, we fall short in our resolutions. We lose motivation. We don’t have time. Things come up. Our resolve fades as old habits return. We finish out the year and try again next year. How frustrating!
The Oxygen Plan Stress Test and The Oxygen Plan provide you with a way to not only think and reflect upon our health, jobs and relationships, they provide you with a way to critically assess your life and a tried and true way to make real changes in your life that are permanent.
What’s your stress number? Take the Oxygen Plan Stress test and find out! Learn where you are doing well (green), where you can improve (yellow) and where significant change is needed (red). Critically assess you life with the stress test, then use The Oxygen Plan to make gradual, sustainable change where needed. By eliminating red, minimizing yellow and becoming more green and filled with life-giving oxygen, you will enjoy improved health, better job satisfaction and enriched relationships.
Get started and truly enjoy a Happy New Year!
Thanks,
Eric
Huh?
Most people think of debt as a financial depletion.
The truth is that in physical training and exercise lingo “oxygen debt” is a bonafide term used to describe what happens when we suddenly stop intense physical exercise, activity or exertion and continue to breathe very heavily. We may call it “trying to catch our breath”.
Whether we are faithful members of a trendy gym or prefer to shape up with a home-video workout, we all know what this feels like. In essence, when this happens, our bodies are quickly taking in extra oxygen to “repay” the oxygen debt we’ve just rung up.
Read the rest of this entry »
Stress in the Workplace: What It Costs & What You Can Do. The Oxygen Plan Stress Test.
What is “Stress?” First, “stress” is NOT only something or someone “out there.” “Stress” is what we experience when demands placed upon us exceed our ability to cope.” Demands can be: internal vs. external or environmental, physical vs. emotional, self vs. other – related, functional vs. dysfunctional and motivating vs. defeating. ‘Coping’ is our ability to tolerate ‘stress’ without developing symptoms. Conversely, the development of symptoms is what we experience when we are ‘stressed.’ The severity and/or persistence of symptoms leads to HEALTH RISK. Health risk in the workplace means loss of productivity in the workplace and increased health care costs to employees and employers alike. More on that in a moment, after a word or two about symptoms and health risk.
Since my last blog I have lost 15 pounds, and several inches from my waist, arms and hips. It has been amazing! And the big deal for me is not the weight. I mean sure, I have felt like a little bit of a dough girl since having my babies - who are now, uhm….. 10 and 8. But the truth of the matter is that today, impressing the crowd with my new physique, as evidenced by everyone telling me how great I look, isn’t the truly fulfilling part like I thought it would be.